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Dominance and the maintenance of polymorphism in multiallelic migration-selection models with two demes
No full textThe maintenance of genetic variation in a spatially heterogeneous environment has been one of the main research themes in theoretical population genetics. Despite considerable progress in understanding the consequences of spatially structured environments on genetic variation, many problems remain unsolved. One of them concerns the relationship between the number of demes, the degree of dominance, and the maximum number of alleles that can be maintained by selection in a subdivided population. In this work, we study the potential of maintaining genetic variation in a two-deme model with deme-independent degree of intermediate dominance, which includes absence of G x E interaction as a special case. We present a thorough numerical analysis of a two-deme three-allele model, which allows us to identify dominance and selection patterns that harbor the potential for stable triallelic equilibria. The information gained by this approach is then used to construct an example in which existence and asymptotic stability of a fully polymorphic equilibrium can be proved analytically. Noteworthy, in this example the parameter range in which three alleles can coexist is maximized for intermediate migration rates. Our results can be interpreted in a specialist-generalist context and (among others) show when two specialists can coexist with a generalist in two demes if the degree of dominance is deme independent and intermediate. The dominance relation between the generalist allele and the specialist alleles play a decisive role. We also discuss linear selection on a quantitative trait and show that G x E interaction is not necessary for the maintenance of more than two alleles in two demes
Evolutionary rescue by beneficial mutations in environments that change in space and time
No full textStrong neutral sweeps occurring during a population contraction
Full text linkA strong reduction in diversity around a specific locus is often interpreted as a recent rapid fixation of a positively selected allele, a phenomenon called a selective sweep. Rapid fixation of neutral variants can however lead to similar reduction in local diversity, especially when the population experiences changes in population size, e.g., bottlenecks or range expansions. The fact that demographic processes can lead to signals of nucleotide diversity very similar to signals of selective sweeps is at the core of an ongoing discussion about the roles of demography and natural selection in shaping patterns of neutral variation. Here we quantitatively investigate the shape of such neutral valleys of diversity under a simple model of a single population size change, and we compare it to signals of a selective sweep. We analytically describe the expected shape of such “neutral sweeps” and show that selective sweep valleys of diversity are, for the same fixation time, wider than neutral valleys. On the other hand, it is always possible to parametrize our model to find a neutral valley that has the same width as a given selected valley. We apply our framework to the case of a putative selective sweep signal around the gene Quetzalcoatl in D. melanogaster and show that the valley of diversity in the vicinity of this gene is compatible with a short bottleneck scenario without selection. Our findings provide further insight in how simple demographic models can create valleys of genetic diversity that may falsely be attributed to positive selection
Expansion Load and the Evolutionary Dynamics of a Species Range
Full text linkExpanding populations incur a mutation burden, the socalled expansion load. Using a mixture of individual-based simulations and analytical modeling, we study the expansion load process in models where population growth depends on the population's fitness (i.e., hard selection). We show that expansion load can severely slow down expansions and limit a species' range, even in the absence of environmental variation. We also study the effect of recombination on the dynamics of a species range and on the evolution of mean fitness on the wave front. If recombination is strong, mean fitness on front approaches an equilibrium value at which the effects of fixed mutations cancel each other out. The equilibrium rate at which new demes are colonized is similar to the rate at which beneficial mutations spread through the core. Without recombination, the dynamics is more complex, and beneficial mutations from the core of the range can invade the front of the expansion, which results in irregular and episodic expansion. Although the rate of adaptation is generally higher in recombining organisms, the mean fitness on the front may be larger in the absence of recombination because high-fitness individuals from the core have a higher chance to invade the front. Our findings have important consequences for the evolutionary dynamics of species ranges as well as on the role and the evolution of recombination during range expansions.Integrative Biolog
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